Friday, February 10, 2012

Fill in the _____ Friday - 2.10.12

1. I started my blog because I loved the idea of finding a community of people who were going through what I was going through; namely, being in college and trying to discover who you wanted to be.

2. One thing I love seeing on other blogs are stories with real, raw emotion, in which people are being open and vulnerable. It's not easy to do that and I seriously respect it. Plus, it makes it so much easier to feel like I'm getting to know another blogger and not just learning a craft.

3. Something I love about blogging is just how great and kind people can be - I've gotten so many lovely and supportive comments throughout the years that I've been blogging and I just can't be appreciative enough for them.

4. A favorite blog post of mine is probably going to be impossible to narrow down! There have just been so many that impacted me. Let's see: The Nouns is one of the sassiest things I've ever written, which is great; in this one (it has a stupid title that I hate now), I examine what love means to me, which got me so many responses from readers (and still does!) that I can't help but love it; The Darkness is the most raw and vulnerable piece I've ever written ever; and finally love, loss, hope, repeat means so much to me that I still feel my heart clench a little when I read it.

5. Something my friends in real life know about me that I've never before mentioned on my blog is that I'm actually pretty shy! I withdraw from social interactions of five people or more (which is probably why I haven't been to single blog conference yet - soon!). It's awful. I'm trying to get over it.

6. My new favorite blogs to read are Exile Lifestyle, Colin Wright travels around the world and writes about it - that's his whole "job" and I'm jealous, Ashalah's blog - she just moved from a big city to some big mountains; and No Ordinary Rollercoaster, which you've probably heard of because Ben is rather well-known in the blogging world (and deservedly so).

7. Some things I tend to avoid doing on my blog are being too negative or too political. As you can imagine, I'm actually pretty political by nature (I did move to DC for a reason), but it's not something that translates well to blogging. I feel like it alienates people. Or would you guys like to hear my opinion on politics? Let me know.

As you guys know (or don't, hmmmm? New readers?), I'm in the middle of moving and getting settled into my new apartment right now (on top of working six days a week...ugh). I didn't plan on having time to blog today, or for the next week really, so I've got some wonderful guest bloggers lined up for you guys to check out. On Wednesday, Amanda told us about her move to Tennessee, and today the lovely Jennifer is here telling us about her big move to England. Give them some love!

Now, I've got to get back to my working-six-days-a-week life and then go home and crash on my air mattress in my unfurnished apartment. Weeee!

I remember when I finally got the heck out of my parents' house and into my own apartment, I had NOTHING. My mom would stop by everyday with stuff from around the house. A pot here, a bath towel there. I slept on the floor for a couple of weeks, then I got a single bed. A SINGLE. I think they gave me that bed so I wouldn't be tempted to let boys sleep it. Oh the memories!

Also, I never thanked you for the gift card and recipes. They totally made my day. Probably my whole week really :)

Search Simply, Valorie

Words and photos property of Valorie, unless otherwise noted. Basically, stealing isn't nice, so let's just not do it. Give credit where credit is due, and I won't have to get all internet-ragey on you. We cool?